Time Magazine is a world renown and widely read weekly news magazine. It is a respected authority and did its duty to run two articles prior to the German elections that contained information about the elections but approached form different angles. The first ran September 21 was entitled “Germany’s Election: Divided they Stand” playing off of the popular American rally cry: “Together we stand, Divided we fall.”
This article has little to do with the election and more with the ghost wall that exists in the heads of many Germans today. It mentions that Merkel is an example of how far Germany has come as a nation since reunification as both the first woman and Ossie to be Chancellor. However, it goes on to discuss how Germany has failed to recon with its divided past. Ostalgie or the celebration of the former life in the East is proof that many people have forgotten the horrors of the Stasi and GDR life. The director of Hohenschönhausen, a former G.D.R. prison and now a memorial is afraid “the success of Die Linke in the eastern states reveals a dangerous form of amnesia.”
The article criticizes Germany’s lackluster performance on the world stage in comparison to the amount of power it could wield economically stating: “…there seems to be an underlying concern, too, as if such visible engagement in global geopolitics is somehow dangerously unsettling to the good life that Germans have come to expect. The strongest impulse in German politics is to avoid big changes, to hold the country steady as she goes.” And how not much will change regardless of the election results.
The second shorter article “Germany After the Poll: A World Leader?” was a more concise evaluation of the upcoming elections and discussed the expected Merkel win and how this would/would not affect the economy and Afghan war. But mostly reinforces the idea that nothing will change with the elections, now days away: “With Merkel or without her, nobody expects much change in Germany’s worldview. That means a pro-U.S. and pro-Israel stance, a pragmatic approach in dealing with Russia and China, and a faith in negotiations and sanctions to bring recalcitrant countries like Iran back into constructive dialogue. Just don’t look to Berlin for big ideas or robust new approaches to international problems.” So, according to Time (and most other news outlets, American or otherwise) no one foresees any excitement in the changing of the top government guard
As I’m typing here I realize that I have given you a summery of the articles…more so than is probably necessary for this blog but perhaps that is because these articles are chuck full of fluff and its easy to get distracted by fluff. In regards to the actual elections this is relativity light article. But it appeals to the broad, casual American reader who does not have time or energy to concentrate on an election in a foreign land, one that will hardly affect them at all, and especially one that is, by all accounts, not expected to make ANY waves. The first article appeals more the the interest of Americans who may know little or nothing about life in the GDR but find escape stories fascinating…keeping with the American ideal of struggling for freedom.
German and American Election Coverage 
…Spicing up the Germany’s election coverage with the escape stories.
Very interesting observation!